To the editor:

More than people in any other rich nation, Americans are skeptical that climate change is a dire issue. Considered a future topic, the issue just moved firmly into the present last week with a new study titled the National Climate Report.

Released by a large scientific panel overseen by the government, the panel included representatives from two oil companies and is considered the most comprehensive to date. The assessment: Warming is already upon us. If gasoline, natural gas and coal emissions keep growing, it’s not the higher averages we will notice, it’s the extremes. The report highlights the pain with drought in California, melting in Alaska and flooding in Florida.

On Sunday, former GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman Jr. said, “Our approach as a party should be neither denial nor extremism … We aren’t inspiring much confidence among those who want an intelligent conversation … The fact is the planet is warming, and failing to deal with this reality will leave us vulnerable.”

The nonpartisan Citizen’s Climate Lobby supports a Revenue Neutral Carbon Fee and Dividend (a fee on fossil fuels at the source/all proceeds returned to citizens equally). We imagine Kansas representatives and senators co-sponsoring such a bill.